Saturday, 5 September 2015

Good news for Clunatics: Doc Martin is back for another series

Martin Clunes' Doc Martin is back for
another series - good news for the show's 'super fans'. We meet the man
who's made one of telly's grouchiest characters one of its most popular.

They might have played best mates in Men Behaving Badly but in real
life, it transpires Neil Morrissey and Martin Clunes have had a falling
out.

It's because Caroline Quentin, who played Clunes' put upon girlfriend
in the hit Nineties sitcom, has been asked to appear in the new series
of Doc Martin, but not Morrissey.

He's "really p***ed off", jokes Clunes, who plays the grouchy Dr.
Martin Ellingham in the Cornish series, which now has fans all over the
world and boasts a cameo from Sigourney Weaver in the upcoming run.

Quentin will play Angela Sim, a holistic vet ("everything the Doc
hates") and the daughter of the previous GP - "who he hates although
they've never met".

"I see Caroline all the time because we are friends, but it was the
first time we've filmed a scene together in 17 years. The pair of us
just laughed like children," says Clunes, who adds the part was written
for her.

In the last series, viewers saw the Doc marry head teacher Louisa
Glasson (Caroline Catz), but their wedded bliss was short-lived and
after a life-threatening incident, she decided to take their son James
Henry to stay with her mother in Spain.

Fans are apparently furious about the break-up, particularly the Americans who, Clunes divulges, "are so vocal".

"They have discussion groups on every single episode and they pull it
apart and break it down, making notes and queries," he reveals.